Heathrow?

[calgal Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close calgal]

I am scheduling DS's flight to Madrid for his study abroad program, and all the reasonable airfares are on BA going through Heathrow. He would have 2 hrs and 25 minutes to switch terminals at Heathrow. Would he have to go through customs in the UK if he had to switch terminals for the flight to Madrid, and would he have enough time to do so?

[Pstreet1 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pstreet1]

He will have to go through customs at Heathrow. If the plane is on time, he will have time. One note: In the U.S. you can have one carryon piece of luggage and one personal item. For the transfer to Madrid, he will be able to have one article, period. I had to stop and shove my purse into the suitcase--not easy--and my husband managed to get the laptop into his suitcase.

[camachinist Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close camachinist]

Assuming arrival at T5 (from USA) and departure through T3 (to MAD), with all segments on BA, here's an overview:


Terminal 5 International Connecting to Terminal 3 International
Connection time: 90 minutes*

Your connections plan is as follows. You will be able to spend any extra time that you have in the departure lounge, where you will find a wide variety of exciting shops, restaurants and facilities to help you enjoy your time at the airport and prepare for your onward journey.

Step by step connection guide

Guide to your connectionWelcome to Heathrow. On leaving the aircraft please follow the signs for Flight Connections.





A dedicated bus will take you to your departure terminal. They are free and depart every 6 to ten minutes.





Your hand baggage must conform to EU and UK government regulations. At this point your hand baggage will be checked. Please note, liquids in containers over 100ml are not allowed through security. More information about security.




You will pass through security screening at this point. If you are a non-UK resident and have goods to declare to H M Customs, please use the telephone prior to Security to contact a member of staff.





If you wish to visit your airline’s ticket desk you will find it at this point.




Once you arrive in the departure lounge you will be ready for your next flight. Check the screens for information about your flight, as they will tell you when to go to your departure gate. Meanwhile, you can relax, shop, eat and use other facilities here. Please note there are no service facilities or shops at the departure gates.

[camachinist Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close camachinist]

Adding, in some instances and through some terminals, it's advantageous to enter the country (C&I) and then transit landside. I haven't entered the country when transiting LHR on an international connection so have no experience with that, as well as I generally fly UA, not BA. IME, following the international flight connections methodology, I've stayed in transit and not declared anything to customs, nor retreived baggage. Since the OP will likely ticket the entire itinerary on BA, presumable on one PNR (separate tickets are a different scenario, as are separate tickets with different carriers) the bags should transfer automatically at LHR and remain international, entering customs in MAD.

See here for more information, if ticketing entirely on BA:

British Airways - Connecting at London Heathrow

Also, if arriving LHR from JFK on BA, there may be assistance for connecting passengers who are faced with tight connections due to aircraft/airport performance issues. Inquire about this service with BA directly.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

My policy is to pay extra to avoid Heathrow. The travel guidebook series ''In Your Pocket'' surveyed its travel writers on the worst airports in Europe, and Heathrow ''won'' hands down as the very worst, followed by Bucharest-Banesa (the LCC airport there) second, and Gdansk as third.

I did a connecting flight in London once on BA that connected at Gatwick, a much superior airport, but I do not know if BA does TATL connections at all there any more.

[camachinist Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close camachinist]

Unfortunately, no current daily TATL arrivals into LGW on BA AFAIK, but there are a few arrivals/departures, out of/into FL, namely TPA and MCO. Perhaps that's seasonal tourist trade since the flights are not daily...

[calgal Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close calgal]

How about Brussels or Dublin?

Now I am looking at fares on either Aerlingus connecting (1hr, 5 minutes) in Dublin or Jet/Brussels Air (1 hr, 5 minutes) connecting in Brussels. I assume the latter is inadvisable, since it involves two different airlines and a short connection time. Any experience with Aerlingus and the Dublin airport?

[Ireland's Call Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ireland's Call]

Dublin Airport is much easier than Heathrow . A far as I know all US flights arrive in very early ( like 5 am ) so there might be a long stopover before the flight to Spain .
Aer Lingus is fine but not in the same class as British Air and again ..one bag restriction in cabin
Going back US immigration is based in Dublin ..but I guess that is not an issue for you
Regards
G
G